Includes bibliographical references and index

Introduction: on the edge -- The new economic insecurity -- Risking it all -- Risky jobs -- Risky families -- Risky retirement -- Risky health care -- Conclusion: securing the future

In The Great Risk Shift, Jacob S. Hacker lays bare this unsettling new economic climate, showing how it has come about, what it is doing to our families, and how we can fight back. Behind this shift, he contends, is the personal responsibility crusade, eagerly embraced by corporate leaders and Republican politicians who speak of a nirvana of economic empowerment, an ownership society in which Americans are free to choose. But as Hacker reveals, the result has been quite different: a harsh new world of economic insecurity, in which far too many Americans are free to lose. The book documents how two great pillars of economic security-the family and the workplace-guarantee far less financial stability than they once did. The final leg of economic support-the public and private benefits that workers and families get when economic disaster strikes-has dangerously eroded as political leaders and corporations increasingly cut back protections of our health care, our income security and our retirement pensions. Hacker concludes by advocating an insurance and opportunity society that would safeguard economic security and expand economic opportunity, ensuring that all Americans have the basic financial security they need to reach for and achieve the American Dream. Jacob Hacker brings into focus as never before the pressures that the Great Risk Shift exerts on our pocketbooks and on our lives. Blending powerful human stories, big-picture analysis, and compelling ideas for reform, this remarkable volume will hit a nerve, serving as a rallying point in the vital struggle for economic security in an increasingly uncertain world

Includes information on baby boom generation, bankruptcy, Blue Cross, George W. Bush, capitalism, children and child care, class issues, conservatives and conservatism, defined benefit plans, defined contribution plans, disabilities, education, employers, families, foreclosures, 401(k)s, gender, Great Depression, health insurance, income, insurance, layoffs and job loss, Medicaid, Medicare, middle class, pensions and retirement, Personal Responsibility Crusade, poverty, privatization and the private sector, Republican Party, risk and risk pooling, savings, Social Security, stock market, taxation and tax policy, two income families, unemployment, universal health coverage, etc

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